Mermaid Tears Bolero

This lacy crochet bolero free pattern is available in all sizes. You can make this cute crocheted shrug in both girls and womens sizes.

How do you crochet a bolero?

A bolero is a simple sweater that covers the arms and shoulders, without additional length down the back. That means you can make a crochet bolero from just one rectangle!

This particular bolero crochet pattern uses the same lacy stitch pattern as my Mermaid Tears Shawl. Great news! If you’ve been wanting a rectangular version of this shawl, you can adapt this bolero pattern!

What size should a crochet bolero be?

You can make your bolero in just about any sleeve length you like, and to custom dimensions. I’ve provided a size chart below with suggested sizes to match the short sleeved bolero modeled.

To customize the fit of your bolero, you will need three measurements:

The width of your back from armpit to armpit

The desired sleeve length from armpit to the end of the sleeve

The circumference of the sleeve at the widest point

To find the dimensions of the rectangular bolero, you’ll use these formulas:

Width of back + 2 * sleeve length = Final Width

Circumference of sleeve at widest point = Final Height

Your final width will span across your arms as worn, and the final height will go both around the arms and vertically up and down your back when worn.

This crochet bolero pattern is worked width-wise, but of course you can experiment working the other way, too! Now that you know how to crochet a bolero, you can create to your heart’s content!

Reader Interactions

Crochet Resource Library

(You can decide whether you want to get the Salty Pearl Crochet newsletters later.)

Thank you!

Check your email inbox (or maybe promotions or spam?) for my email with the password. It's titled "The password to my crochet library is..." Then you can head over to the Crochet Library to check out all the free printables I've got in store for you.